Improvement in revolving rakes



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

s. AMENT.

Revolving Rake.

Patented Feb. 9, 1864.

n. PETERS. Pvwwum m w, wunin am ac.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SYLVEST'ER E. AMENT, OF.OSWE'-G( ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVOLVING RAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4 1,469, dated February 9, 1864.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SYLVESTER. E. AMEN'r,

of Oswego, in the county of Kendall, in the a full and exact description thereof, prepared with a view to the obtaining of Letters Patent therelor.

The accompanying drawings form a partof this specification.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 is a plan view, of the machine, both having the several parts applied together for use. The parts at the center, connecting the handle and its locking-bolts to the shaft, are designedly iepresented larger in these figures than an adherence to strict proportion would permit, in order that their construction might be more plainly exhibited. When due regard is bad for the proportion the-teeth-braces prevent the parts from hearing on the ground, as will be readily understood. Fig. 3 is a side view, and Fig. 4 a plan view, of a portion detached from the machine. Fig. 5 is a side view, Fig. 6 a central cross-section, and Fig. 7 a perspective view, of another portion, also detached from the machine.

Siniilarlettersof reference indicate likeparts in all the drawings.

Tints are introduced to aid in distinguishing parts, and do not imply differences in the materials. A great proportion of the material may be hard wood. Certain parts which should be of iron will be distinctly described as such.

My improvements relate to rakes which slide upon the earth, the teeth bearing very nearly a horizontal position thereto and adapted to discharge the hay at the will of the operator by a partial rotation of the revolving parts.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to deunited by the cross-rail (3, arranged as represented. Tugs (not represented) connect the horse to the links or clevises I) b at the forward end of B B.

P P are straps or braces of wood having the form and arrangementre n'esented,and secured by screws or otherwise directly to A and a, and are used upon each tooth for the purpose of keeping every tooth in the set from springing from its range.

In rakes of this character it is very important that no tooth becomes bent or warped,-so as to stand outof the plane of its fellows. Braces applied to the exterior teeth of the set and indirectly connected through a post extending downward from the shaft have been before employed in revolving rakes; but they were not able .to perform the effect of my invention, and were employed for another purpose-21 0., to strengthen the outer teeth and form shoes on which the machine might slide. My braces, by reason of their direct union with A and their application to every tooth in the series, keep the points always and at all times in line.

On the middle of the revolving shaft A is fixed a cast box, D, having acylindrical hearing, D, upon it, with a flange, 1, on the righthand side, and a flange, 2,on theleft-hand side, arranged as represented.

I prefer to make the castingDin two halves and apply it upon the shaft A by means of lugs and bolts. (Not represented, but which will be readily understood by mechanics.)

The handle E is, by means of a peculiar casting, F, and strap G,fitted upon the eylinderical hearing I), so as to allow the latter, with the parts on which it is fixed, to revolve freely except when it is prevented by other means.

The peripheries of the flanges l and 2 are not circular, but are each armed with two eccentric projections, as represented. Each projection has one face standing radial, or nearly so, to the axis of the shaft A. The other face of each projection is sloped away nearly to the perpendicular face of the next projection, so as to give the exterior of each flange a form described very nearly by two arcs of a volute curve or spiral; but there will be observed a very marked difl'erencein the flanges 1 and 2. The perpendicular faces W X on the flange 1 are adapted to meet suitable stops to pre' vent the rake from rotating forward, and the faces Y Z on the flange 2 to meet suitable stops to prevent the rake from rotating backward.

The casting F and additional guides H H on the sides of the handle E carry stout bolts I and J, each capable of suffieient end motion to meet or avoid the projections described. The casting F aifords protection to the end of the handle E from friction with the bearing D, and also secures much strength and firmness to l the connection between them.- The thick flanges I ditional guides for the bolts I J may be dispensed with. The bolts and J are not connected together, but operate independently, and are provided with coiled springs K L, which urge each toward the center of the shaft A. When both the bolts I and J, by the tension of their respective springs, press upon the periphery of their respective flanges, the end of the bolt I on the periphery of the flange 1 and the end of the bolt J on the periphery of the flange 2, the rotation of the rake brings the perpendicular face W against the bolt 1, which stops the revolution, and the bolt J at the sameinstant, by the action of the spring, L, drops down the perpendicular face Y on the opposite flange, 2. The revolving parts are by this means rigidly confined without liberty to turn in either direction within the lever E, so long as the parts 1 and J remain in such p0- sition.

- to perform a half-revolution and drop the hay at the point desired. During this halfrevolution the operator draws back the lever M, so that the bolt I, under the influence of the spring K, presses again upon the periph cry of the flange 1, and as it rotates travels down the inclined or volute surface to meet the next face, X, while at the same time the 01),)05ll0 bolt, J. is, by the inclined form of the flange 2, pushed back without offering any considerable resistance; but at the same instant that the bolt I meets either radial or perpendicular face on the flange l and compels therevolut-ion to stop the bolt J drops off one lof the corresponding reversed faces on the flange 2, and guards against any retrograde movement or turning of the parts in the wrong direction.

The office of the bolt J, acting against the faces on the flange 2, is mainlyimportant when the handle E is elevated to aid the revolving parts to commence their revolution.

Among the advantages of my improved construction of the parts herein described may be enumerated, first, the strength, firmness, and slight friction of the connection of the handle to the shaft; second, the durability of the rubbing parts, and also of the wood-work; third, the ease and certainty with which the parts may be operated by reason of the peculiar precision of form and unyielding character of castings as compared with wood and wrought-iron or sheet-metal work, and by reason of the fact that the strains cannot force any parts out of line and cause any part to bind; fourth, the small cost of the parts when constructed in large quantities, and the small cost of renewing the castings in case of any breakage; fifth, the small amount of skill, strength, or practice required to operate the machine properly; sixth, tliediininished tendency to bend the teeth outof their proper range, due to the absence of any action of the locking parts upon the teeth except uniformlyupon all the teeth through the medium ot'the shat'tA.

Having now frilly described my invention, what ,1 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,.is--

1. The cast bearing-box D, with stops thereon and arranged relatively to one ormore stops,

I J, and to the operative parts of a revolving rake, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. In revolving rakes, the duplicate sliding bolts I and J, arranged relatively to one or more pairs of reversed stops, \V Y, and to the eccentric sectional flanges l and 2, substantially in the manner and forthe purpose herein set forth.

3. The cast bush F, formed with'side cheeks, F F and with notches or holes f f arranged to serve in connection with the handle E and with sliding stops IJ, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

4. Bracing the entire series of teeth by the employmenaof the series of braces P 1, arranged to form an additional direct connection from the rigid shalt A to the teeth a, substan- Witnesses: I

1). W. STETSON, W. A. HnNDRIoKsoN. 

